Thursday, 1 August 2013

Personal data of creche staff posted online

The body representing childcare providers has said it is “outrageous” for
personal information on staff to be posted online as part of the publication of
HSE
inspection reports.

Staff References

The HSE said it was unable to respond yesterday evening to a query about the
posting of the staff references. The Data Protection Commissioner was unable to
say if the postings were a data breach. The report on Clifden Community
Playgroup had been taken off the pobal.ie website last night.

Character references for three staff at Clifden
Community Playgroup in Co Galway were included in a report posted online. The
references were sent into the HSE by the playgroup following an inspection in
May 2012 when it was told references for all staff had to be made available.

The inspection report was posted online in
recent days by the HSE and it included, as it often does, the reply of the
childcare provider indicating changes made after concerns were raised. But in
the case of the Clifden Community Playgroup it also included the character
references of three staff which the playgroup sent in.

“It is outrageous that references would be put
up online. It is simply not fair if they are putting up personal information,”
said Irene Gunning,
chief executive of Early Childhood
Ireland, which represents the majority of creches and childcare
providers.

The HSE began posting the creche reports online
earlier this month in a move to make the childcare system more transparent for
parents. It follows an RTÉ documentary in June which highlighted mistreatment
of children at three creches.

So far, reports for childcare providers in four
counties have been posted online – Limerick, Mayo, Clare and Galway. Many
reports show creches and childcare providers do not have adequate records for
staff in relation to Garda vetting and references. Early Childhood Ireland has
said delays of 12 weeks for getting Garda vetting makes it difficult for
childcare providers to be compliant on this.

Galway reports, which were posted up late last
week and yesterday, highlight infrastructure deficiencies in some creches, including
broken toilet seats, peeling paint and mould.